Author's response

Religion and the Cold War

Merrilyn Thomas

University College London

Given
that this is essentially a favourable review, with some constructive
suggestions, I can only welcome and agree with its sentiments. Owing to its positive nature, it is perhaps
understandable that I should consider the review to be fair and
judicious. However, other reviewers have also responded
well to the book, pointing to the same attributes to which Dr
Thomas draws attention. To
date, in fact, the book has been pleasingly received and broadly
welcomed as a valuable contribution to Cold War scholarship and
greeted as one that should promote further research and scholarly
endeavour.

Dr
Thomas, who herself is doing significant work in the realm of
religion and the Cold War, ably identifies cogent aspects of the
collection, revealing her own insights and grasp of this fascinating
and complex field. I was particularly taken with her reference
to religion being the 'Cinderella of Cold War historiography',
which nicely sums up its previous neglect.

Dr
Thomas recognises that the book had a limited aim, to show that
'religion mattered' and to encourage further examination of the
consequences of its relationship with power in the international
arena. She generously concludes that the book does achieve its aim and
she understands that to have done more would have required a wider
spread of essays. Dr Thomas
rightly notes the bias towards the Catholic Church and points
to other areas that she feels deserve examination. She particularly regrets the lack of a piece on the World
Council of Churches. I could have rectified this omission, but it
would have meant another essay from me. (1)

There were other serious omissions that Dr Thomas kindly
refrained from mentioning. Although
entitled Religion
and the Cold War, the reality is that the book deals exclusively
with Christianity. However, some of the lessons to be learned
from Christianity are applicable to religion in general. My endeavours
to find additional authors willing to discuss Judaism, Islam and
other non-Christian religions in a Cold War context proved futile,
clearly indicating that here is an area ripe for research. My hope is that scholars of other religions who see the
book will be moved by their non-representation to seek to rectify
this very serious gap in the scholarship.

I will be well satisfied if the work and effort that
went into the conference and the editorship results, as Dr Thomas
suggests it will, in opening the door for future researchers into
the subject of religion and the Cold War. It was intended as a first step and I will be delighted
if it inspires others to give some attention to what I know they
will find a fruitful area.

Concluding my introduction, I observed: 'Today as perhaps
never before, it is of increasing importance that scholars and
statesmen turn their attention to understanding the political
influence of religion, its role in the international arena and
in the hearts and minds of men.' It is an observation that contemporary events since the
book's publication have made yet more cogent. Scholars of the
Cold War need to highlight the many similarities between it and
the 'War on Terror'. Those
of us interested in the religious dimension need to explore the
way in which the use of Islam to combat communism and militant
secular Arab nationalism contributed to the ongoing Middle East
crisis. There remains
a great deal of work to be undertaken in understanding the role
of religion in our Cold War past, but it will help us understand
and make better informed speculations about our post-Cold War
future, not least in the realm of the 'War on Terror'.

January 2004

Notes

For those wanting to know more about the WCC and the Cold War,
please see D. Kirby, 'Harry
S. Truman's international religious anti-Communist front, the
Archbishop of Canterbury and the 1948 inaugural Assembly of the
World Council of Churches', Contemporary British History, 15: 4, (2001), 35–70. Back to (1).